Changing Lives

WE, the initials for Fairhope-based Waters Edge Realty, is the local real estate firm co-owned by Qualifying Alabama Broker Kendall Wahlert and April Hunt, Florida Broker and Head Facilitator of Training, and rarely has an acronym been more apropos. Their office officially opened for business January of 2022 and has seen phenomenal growth in terms of attracting agents, self-evident by the 34 agents that hold their license there.

Not only are the two partners good friends, with an obvious strong mutual respect and admiration for each other, but their skill sets are also complimentary. Their yin and yang balance of energy palpably permeates throughout a space found at 8 South Section St., situated in the trendy arts and crafts tourist epicenter of beautiful downtown Fairhope.

Real Producers

By Ron Sivak

April’s journey to today is a culmination of many stops along the way. Hailing from Louisiana, she married her husband and childhood sweetheart Johnny Hunt at the age of 18, who is currently the Pastor of Celebration Church in Fairhope. She handled many roles before venturing into a career in real estate in 2017.

“I became a cosmetologist and helped put my husband through school, then started having children. When my kids were small, I went back to school and got a degree at Arkansas State University in early childhood education. I taught first and second grade in Arkansas until we moved here to Fairhope.” Hunt said.

April said she initially got the bug to work in real estate while living in Shreveport. “My husband and I bought and sold our first two homes there and flipped one. I thought that it would be something that I would really enjoy, but the timing wasn’t right, and the place wasn’t right.”

Born and raised in Georgia, Kendall entered the business in 2005 at the age of 20.

“My mother owned multiple rental properties and that initially caught my interest.” Wahlert said. “When

I was at the University of West Georgia, I called my dad and told him that I wanted to withdraw from school and go into real estate. He made me promise that if it didn’t work out then I would go back to college. I have never looked back.”

In 2022 their firm was ranked 23rd out of over 391 brokerages locally as ranked in Baldwin County MLS. Last year April and Kendall were ranked first and second respectively within the company, while also managing tremendous growth within their brokerage all while opening up a new commercial sales and property management division.

“We both have learned leverage and have transaction coordinators, a marketing coordinator, and showing partners that help us show our buyers. When we look for a showing partner, it’s somebody who is in that three to five million sales experience range and has had a little bit more time and but has some experience, because when you’re out showing houses, you often have to answer a variety of questions.” April said.

Moving forward into this year and beyond, the duo wants to continue growing while maintaining their open-door policy and egalitarian management style that seems to have captured lightning in a bottle in terms of positivity, especially for a Christian, faith-based company.

“Honestly, the growth with everything is because of God.” Kendall said.

“Because, I feel, we’re doing something that he was aligning us with. The way we found out about this office was God. This property was handled by a well-known Fairhope property management firm. The owner was retiring and selling office furniture.” she said.

We pour into our agents, I tell them to not call me boss, but look at me as their equal. If we are doing it right, that person is going to pour into another person.

“When she called me about it, I literally almost cried,” April said.

“Kendall told me ‘You’re not going to believe it’. The amount was the exact budget we had set for rent. It was like God just kept opening the doors on one side and shutting them on the other side.”

Measured in terms of families served, they went on to say that their goals are to remain consistent in the numbers that their office produces, while expanding their commercial property management division this year.

“We would love to continue to serve around 40 to 50 families a year personally. That’s a doable number for April and myself, to have the life that we live, to have the freedom that we have, but also to be able to pour into our agents to grow our company.” Wahlert said.

“It’s not just about us, because we have some new agents who have come in and who have started doing well. There’s just something that resonates inside when you see somebody being able to create the financial freedom that real estate can bring when they’re selling at a high level like that.” Hunt said.

“We try to help them when they feel those pressures, because this can be a very mentally challenging job. You have a lot of highs and lows with dips in business, and that’s normal. When you’re in one of those downturns, I’ve jokingly told our agents that it’s still always in the back of my mind that I’m never going to sell another home.” April said.

“We pour into our agents, I tell them to not call me boss, but look at me as their equal. If we are doing it right, that person is going to pour into another person. If we can grow leaders in our company, then they can grow more leaders alongside them. Imagine what that could become. It’s not just about us and the families we serve, but about changing people’s lives through real estate. I know of a realtor who couldn’t pay her power bill, and now she is doing well and is one of the top Realtors in our industry.” Kendall added.

These two top-producing agents seemed to have found a way to balance managing their growing brokerage, continuing to serve their clients at a high level, and most importantly being present for their families. Without doubt, these faithfilled women have made a mark in their market and on the area and will continue to see success.

For questions or comments about this article, contact Kendall at (706) 5758800 or kendallsoldit@gmail.com